Westsportif 160km - 19th July

Iwernia

Well done to all involved, great friendly event with fantastic scenery and the crit racing to finish the day off made it that bit more special. Well done Westport, great weekend.

Arequipa

Hi! Did the Westportif yearerday on my bloody mountainbike..
Long story, my race bike is outta commission @ the mo...
Enjoyed the day, beautiful scenery and lots of cool, friendly...

I think i did it in 5hrs 40mins.. Was flying along, until the last 50km when my saddle was just cutting me!!
I remember the Burren cycling club flying through..
Couldnt quite push the aule Trek to keep up with them!!

G1032

Arequipa wrote: »

Hi! Did the Westportif yearerday on my bloody mountainbike..
Long story, my race bike is outta commission @ the mo...
Enjoyed the day, beautiful scenery and lots of cool, friendly...

I think i did it in 5hrs 40mins.. Was flying along, until the last 50km when my saddle was just cutting me!!
I remember the Burren cycling club flying through..
Couldnt quite push the aule Trek to keep up with them!!

Was in your group going across the Inagh Valley. Couldn't believe you were doing the 160 on a mountain bike. Think you were wearing a blue ish top?? Anyway, fair play to you. I couldn't have done that in a million years.

Arequipa

Hi! Yea, that was me...
Was a good workout keeping up with you guys!
The main problem was the saddle was killing me: wasnt used to it!

Next time i'm defo doing it on my racebike!

snailsong

Thanks for the positive comments guys. I can't take any credit myself as I was not involved in organising it but I know that those who did so appreciate support on here.

I think I might have met some of you. I was wearing the covey gear and riding a black Planet X. I was part of a group 4 man chase down the Inagh valley, becoming 7 man and catching the peloton before Maam cross.

Simonrooneyzaga, were you the young guy from Terenure riding with your dad?

Arequipa, it must have been you who passed me on the Maamtrasna climb then turned back on the descent to take some pictures from the top, only to rejoin the group on the descent to Lough Mask. Some going on that hunk of steel.

Dscully, sorry to hear about your accident, it's always a hazard in sportifs.
I wonder which bike shop you went to, there's one near each church and both are run by club members. If it's the one called 'The Bike Shop' then the owner won the first sprint prime in the crit last night.

G1032

snailsong wrote: »

Thanks for the positive comments guys. I can't take any credit myself as I was not involved in organising it but I know that those who did so appreciate support on here.

I think I might have met some of you. I was wearing the covey gear and riding a black Planet X. I was part of a group 4 man chase down the Inagh valley, becoming 7 man and catching the peloton before Maam cross.

Simonrooneyzaga, were you the young guy from Terenure riding with your dad?

Arequipa, it must have been you who passed me on the Maamtrasna climb then turned back on the descent to take some pictures from the top, only to rejoin the group on the descent to Lough Mask. Some going on that hunk of steel.

Dscully, sorry to hear about your accident, it's always a hazard in sportifs.
I wonder which bike shop you went to, there's one near each church and both are run by club members. If it's the one called 'The Bike Shop' then the owner won the first sprint prime in the crit last night.

Did one of you have a puncture at Maam Cross??

snailsong

G1032 wrote: »

Did one of you have a puncture at Maam Cross??

A club mate had a puncture so I stopped to offer help as he'd used his spare tube at Leenane. Turned out my kit was sitting on the bench at home. I had to chase back on solo but luckily the pace had dropped a bit.

yop

Spoke to a few after the Sportive suggesting the 160km was too long? That 140km was plenty. Going by a few posts the last 20km was tough, that last section is a tough spin into that wind and the surface is poor in parts anyway
Well done to everyone, plenty of positives from it and I think the Crit helped to round off the day for people.
There was a 17 year old in the U16 race, is that the guy you were on about? He got a 100m handicap, he didn't make it up either.

G1032

yop wrote: »

Spoke to a few after the Sportive suggesting the 160km was too long? That 140km was plenty. Going by a few posts the last 20km was tough, that last section is a tough spin into that wind and the surface is poor in parts anyway
Well done to everyone, plenty of positives from it and I think the Crit helped to round off the day for people.
There was a 17 year old in the U16 race, is that the guy you were on about? He got a 100m handicap, he didn't make it up either.

A lot of the Ballinrobe club took a left in Leenane and cut out the Inagh Valley leg. They joined up again at that small sign for Finny on the Leenane – Maam road.I think this reduced the cycle to about 115km or so??
If people were complaining about the 160km being too long then this could be a further option for next year. 2 food stops should be plenty for a 115km so they could use the existing stops at Leenane and Tourmac??
I really enjoyed the 160km . The cycle through the Inagh Valley was superb. Will do it again next year.

simonrooneyzaga

snailsong wrote: »

Thanks for the positive comments guys. I can't take any credit myself as I was not involved in organising it but I know that those who did so appreciate support on here.

I think I might have met some of you. I was wearing the covey gear and riding a black Planet X. I was part of a group 4 man chase down the Inagh valley, becoming 7 man and catching the peloton before Maam cross.

Simonrooneyzaga, were you the young guy from Terenure riding with your dad?

Arequipa, it must have been you who passed me on the Maamtrasna climb then turned back on the descent to take some pictures from the top, only to rejoin the group on the descent to Lough Mask. Some going on that hunk of steel.

Dscully, sorry to hear about your accident, it's always a hazard in sportifs.
I wonder which bike shop you went to, there's one near each church and both are run by club members. If it's the one called 'The Bike Shop' then the owner won the first sprint prime in the crit last night.

That was me yep - great little chasing group we had there, very enjoyable. Will certainly back for round 2 next year!

QueensGael

Did the 160km, great route, very scenic. Well done to all involved in organising it. Really like that it's on a Saturday too, makes for a great weekend away!

Trojan

I did the 80 - which was 85 Would have done a 100-115 option had there been one but 160 was too much of a stretch for me. (Edit: I should have looked for the alternative route, didn't think of it).

Great day out, thanks to all the organisers, and especially to whoever sorted out the weather for us.

Event report blog post here.

simonrooneyzaga

G1032 wrote: »

A lot of the Ballinrobe club took a left in Leenane and cut out the Inagh Valley leg. They joined up again at that small sign for Finny on the Leenane – Maam road.I think this reduced the cycle to about 115km or so??
If people were complaining about the 160km being too long then this could be a further option for next year. 2 food stops should be plenty for a 115km so they could use the existing stops at Leenane and Tourmac??
I really enjoyed the 160km . The cycle through the Inagh Valley was superb. Will do it again next year.

So does this mean that I actually finished higher than 103rd??? ;-)

I agree with comments here that perhaps the 80 could have been a 100/120, with the 40 km maybe being bumped up to a 50/60.

G1032

simonrooneyzaga wrote: »

So does this mean that I actually finished higher than 103rd??? ;-)

It does indeed!!

Dcully

Trojan wrote: »

I did the 80 - which was 85 Would have done a 100-115 option had there been one but 160 was too much of a stretch for me. (Edit: I should have looked for the alternative route, didn't think of it).

Great day out, thanks to all the organisers, and especially to whoever sorted out the weather for us.

Event report blog post here.

Hi Trojan,i just read your blog [nice job] and recognised you from the pic, i went past you about 5-6 k before Louisburgh and then met you again as i was climbing up from leenane after the food stop you were just after taking the right hander down into lennane where i had come from.

On a side note a motorbike crew took photos of me as they went by on the way back to westport, anyone know where i might get to view some event photographs?

simonrooneyzaga

G1032 wrote: »

It does indeed!!

How did the injuries hold out in the end for yourself? I must have come across you at some stage too, similar times.

Esroh

simonrooneyzaga wrote: »

So does this mean that I actually finished higher than 103rd??? ;-)

I agree with comments here that perhaps the 80 could have been a 100/120, with the 40 km maybe being bumped up to a 50/60.

Many of the Western Lakes cc crew would have ridden down from Ballinrobe .Timing was not an issue so your time is most likely better than 103rd for the offical route.

I am not envolved in the organisation of Westportif but have been involved in organising the Western Lakes Cc Polka Dot Challenge which uses the roads over the Hills you rode around in the area.
The routes are a different level of a challenge and its reputation is that it is very tough.Thats the dilemma faced by Event Organisers.
The routes for Westportif were chosen to offer something for everyone. Adding 20km to the shorter routes would really up the level of difficulty as you would have to go into the hills.
The 3 routes on Sat are probably the 3 flattest that could be chosen :-) while showing you all how beautiful it all is over here.
Its great to hear you all enjoyed the day and that you now know how beautiful thethe area is.

G1032

simonrooneyzaga wrote: »

How did the injuries hold out in the end for yourself? I must have come across you at some stage too, similar times.

Good. Had no issues at all in the end. Certainly didn't look good earlier the week though. We def must have crossed paths at some stage alright. I got dropped after Tourmac but finished more or less the same time as you so I'm guessing we were the last food stop together.

Esroh

Dcully wrote: »

Hi Trojan,i just read your blog [nice job] and recognised you from the pic, i went past you about 5-6 k before Louisburgh and then met you again as i was climbing up from leenane after the food stop you were just after taking the right hander down into lennane where i had come from.

On a side note a motorbike crew took photos of me as they went by on the way back to westport, anyone know where i might get to view some event photographs?

It probably 1 of 2 lads who photo the events run by the 2 clubs. Knowing how many shots they take on any given day it might take a day or 2. Keep an eye on the Westportif FB page and both club pages.

yop

Esroh wrote: »

It probably 1 of 2 lads who photo the events run by the 2 clubs. Knowing how many shots they take on any given day it might take a day or 2. Keep an eye on the Westportif FB page and both club pages.

Facebook indeed, I spotted a few on there last night I THINK or was it another event! Best keep an eye on it anyway.

simonrooneyzaga

80 or so up here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.551982044913939.1073741851.444075255704619&type=1

Plenty more to come I'd imagine. Spotted myself in one of them but plenty of familiar faces throughout!

Arequipa

Hey! I think the 160km was great just not on a 10 year old mountain bike.. I went back up a climb to take this picture...

Esroh

Arequipa wrote: »

Hey! I think the 160km was great just not on a 10 year old mountain bike.. I went back up a climb to take this picture...

Lough na Fooey as deep as the mountains are high.
As ye were cycling on the lowlands there were Hillwalkers walking the full lap of the Lake on the Hill Tops in the Joyce Country Challenge. They climbed as many meters in 30km.
There is a lovely sandy beach on the left of the river.
Did you take any pics from on top of the next climb, Maumtrasna looking back.

Arequipa

I remember seeing all those hillwalkers: nice bunch!
I thought it was a Skoda foodstop @ first!

No more pics mate!

simonrooneyzaga

Arequipa wrote: »

Hey! I think the 160km was great just not on a 10 year old mountain bike.. I went back up a climb to take this picture...

I saw you coming back up the hill, was very confused at the time hah! nice shot.

simonrooneyzaga

Some more photos

http://conormckeown.photoshelter.com/gallery/westportif-2014/G000001MC6lpnlLU

simonrooneyzaga

... and more!

This one has 500 so probably the one stop shop for all.

http://conormckeown.photoshelter.com/gallery/Westportif-2014-watermarked/G0000uKwkDb2s7Vo